The Russians “seize” the crisis in catering

The economic situation has not forced the Russians to refrain from trips to restaurants, furthermore, people are more likely to dine outside the home. However, the average check has decreased, and the biggest winners were the fast food places.

RIA Novosti interviewed restaurateurs forum “heroes of the Russian business” the business school “synergy” does not agree with the experts who report falling attendance food service establishments by 15% by the end of 2015.

“Of course, with the crisis, people began to pay attention to the price, have less to spend, while the number of people in restaurants is growing,” — said the co-owner of the project “Chayhona number 1” Alexey Vasilchuk.

According to him, this happens because the culture of eating out in Russia is developing despite the crisis. “The time is now invaluable, especially in a big city, and you have to spend on cooking, half the food is thrown to cook at home is simply not profitable, and people understand it, go to the restaurants. In addition, over lunch at a restaurant to hold a business meeting, this is also a plus,” he explains.

The average check in catering establishments has fallen. “People have started to save, steel is very sensitive to change. If earlier the family restaurant was a sensitive change menu items by 40-50 rubles, now customers react to a price increase of 10-20 rubles and choose a cheaper position,” said the owner of the restaurant chain “Rosinter RESTORANTS holding” (IL Patio, Planeta Sushi, TGI Fridays) Rostislav Ordovsky-tanaevskoy.

Crisis assistance

But the fast food restaurants the crisis even helped. “In the restaurant segment, we see how rose quick service restaurants, but family and luxury segment felt very difficult,” — says Ordovsky-tanaevskoy. He estimated that overall, the Russian restaurant industry lost in the last two years from 15% to 30% of sales.

However, the growth is not far off, say the restaurateurs. “We have already passed the bottom, now a period of stabilization, I hope he takes as much time as you need to be the government for structural reforms. And very soon we will start to grow moderately. I think that the mass market next year will grow by 5-15%, and family — we can expect growth of 5-10%”, — he said.

“These two years have been difficult, but we have not raised prices — I had to sacrifice part of profits. And we have already returned to their normal position — this year we have an increase of sales of 10% compared with 2015. And will continue to be better, it is noticeable for the overall market. If there is no serious geopolitical shocks will continue to be better, we have adapted to the crisis”, — agrees with him Vasilchuk.